Responsive Design and Mobile Growth

01/23/2013

The Mobile Market continues to expand rapidly and as a result businesses are looking to capitalize and provide seamless user experience across all devices. It is increasingly important that websites can be accessed easily on any kind of device as the market continues to shift away from desktop computing. As we continue to move into the new year it may be a good idea to move forward with new responsive design techniques that are seamless for the audience.

Responsive Design

The increasing number of device resolutions are pushing designer/developers away from fixed width websites. Responsive design looks to achieve a seamless user experience across all screen resolutions without the need for multiple sites / applications. As we continue to move into the new year it may be a good idea to start thinking about how you can integrate responsive techniques to your site and engage the mobile market.

There are three core ingredients that make up responsive design. They are: a fluid grid-based layout, flexible images and media, and the css3 media queries.

Rather than build separate sites for each web and mobile device, responsive design uses media queries to create breakpoints that react to different properties of the devices. A responsive website can adjust its layout and features according to how it's being viewed. With that being said, there are various benefits to implementing a responsive website design for any business.

Content is focused

Limited space forces your team to consider what is truly important allowing for a greater focus on relevant and quality content.

SEO friendly

Some businesses do choose to design a completely different website for their mobile presence. As a result, a totally different website needs to be optimized. All of this is eliminated through responsive design. Traffic numbers are consolidated to one URL that are used across all platforms thus improving the performance of marketing campaigns.

Easy to manage

Content editing across all devices is done through a single markup simplifying the design/development process.

Reliable / Easy

Allows the browser to deliver the content rather than having to possibly download an app or redirect to micro sites or device specific markup.

What about cost?

Responsive web design creates fewer needs for stand alone sites and apps, having to design specifically for iOS, Android devices, desktop, notebook, laptop and tablet would get expensive. Website designers will spend less time maintaining multiple code bases and content would only need to be applied once and the results take place across all platforms. Responsive design is one way to focus resources while getting the most bang for your buck.

Moving Forward

If a site is responsive it will deliver the same content no matter the screen size. Because this approach is device agnostic your site is more future proof when the next generation of devices roll out. Sites that are responsive will stand the test of time longer than those that are not. That said the responsive development process is new and will take effort integrating with your company and team. Responsive design is also not the only answer depending on the scope of your project. You may find your needs are more specific and a more tailored solution is needed.

Responsive design adaptation is going to continue strongly as more and more companies look to create a cohesive design strategy across all platforms. Not giving proper and easy access to a company website to an audience at any given time is a major disadvantage. The key benefit to remember is that you can build a website once and it'll work across thousands of different screens. Keep a competitive edge by taking on responsive web design.